I'm trying to get HOMM2 running on Linux (distro isn't important) but the mouse freezes after about two seconds and the game crashes with a buffer overrun error. (Nothing of value in the log.) I tried downloading and installing the GOG Galaxy program to download the patch (Why can't we just download it through the browser?) but that crashes too, leaving no log file.

I remember this game from long ago, and would love to play it again, but I have a Linux-only household. If there are Linux-specific things I should try, let me know, as most things done in a terminal don't depend on your distro, and if they do, I can figure out for myself how to translate things.

Thanx in advance for any assistance.

HoMM2 can be made to run under Wine. I have played it that way. If I recall correctly, the officially unsupported Windows version of HoMM2 ran fine without any particular configuration on my part. No Winetricks, no special registry edits, etc.

Start with showing us wine --version and the sha256sum of the game binary you are trying to play, so that we can be sure exactly what game version you are using.

The binary is the one I installed from the Windows Installer that I downloaded here yesterday, with no patches or modifications.

wine-1.7.53 (Staging)

GOG Galaxy is generally broken on Linux, so I am not surprised that failed for you. GOG sometimes updates the download for some games to include new changes (presumably fixes, but ...). I last reinstalled HoMM2 more than two years ago, so any recent changes to the installer would not be reflected in my install. I just confirmed that Wine 1.7.55 (not staging) can correctly start my HEROES2W.EXE and load one of my old saved games. I get very few messages from Wine during startup:

fixme:ntdll:NtLockFile I/O completion on lock not implemented yet
fixme:ntdll:NtLockFile I/O completion on lock not implemented yet
err:winediag:SECUR32_initNTLMSP ntlm_auth was not found or is outdated. Make sure that ntlm_auth >= 3.0.25 is in your path. Usually, you can find it in the winbind package of your distribution.
fixme:iphlpapi:NotifyIpInterfaceChange (family 0, callback 0x6a07afa1, context 0x923b50, init_notify 0, handle 0x11fe7a4): stub
fixme:iphlpapi:CancelMibChangeNotify2 (handle (nil)): stub

After that, nothing further is printed and the game starts successfully. What output do you get when you try?

sha256sum: b09be1a4e4085c717c7e056e2be336749a178cb64a4c119b8b8bbaeed0154e73 HEROES2W.EXE

The command in my desktop shortcut is this:

env WINEPREFIX="/home/joe/.wine" /usr/bin/wine C:\\windows\\command\\start.exe /Unix /home/joe/.wine/dosdevices/c:/users/Public/Desktop/GOG\ Galaxy.lnk

Running that in a terminal returns a number of lines like this:

wine: Call from 0x7b83d9eb to unimplemented function api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll._seh_filter_dll, aborting

Followed by:

err:seh:setup_exception_record stack overflow 1248 bytes in thread 0027 eip b739b9b0 esp 00240e50 stack 0x240000-0x241000-0x340000

After which output stops without a new prompt. If I go to the program's directory and run wine ./HEROES2.EXE:

CONFIG:Loading primary settings from config file /home/joe/.wine/dosdevices/c:/users/joe/Temp/cfg2784.tmp
MIXER:Got different values from SDL: freq 44100, blocksize 512
ALSA:Can't subscribe to MIDI port (65:0) nor (17:0)
MIDI:Opened device:none

I turned off MIDI support and was back to a stack overflow on Interrupt 08h, using the desktop shortcut.

I tried the sha256sum command, but it was improperly formatted. Also, the executable is HEROES2.EXE. However, I was finally able to get this:

[joe@khorlia HoMM 2 Gold]$ sha256sum HEROES2.EXE
255a6aca4c40f32dece105a65bea9ae5b3d83fbcf41a25dd139d2f1ef19e943f HEROES2.EXE

Thanx! I already have the game downloaded and installed. I'll see what I can do with those two guides and report back.

So far, it's not working. Part of the problem is that GOG uses folder names with spaces in them, and figuring out the syntax for using them in DosBox takes time. And, DosBox doesn't give any error messages, or allow cut and paste to the command line. I've not given up, and I can always donate the game to a club I belong to and play it there, so it's not like I'll be wanting my money back.

Also, on a side note, somebody wrote that GOG Galaxy doesn't work on Linux. If I need the patch, and only have Linux (That club's computers don't have Internet access.) how can I get them?

Got it! The first link wants you to mount homm2.inst as an image file, but it isn't. Will try second link and see what happens.


Alas, it too wants to mount homm2.inst as an image. *Sigh!*

That was not improperly formatted, because it was not a command. It was just a comment indicating which digest algorithm was used, in case my post was read by people who did not read my initial request that you provide the digest of your game. The name of the Windows build of Heroes 2 is HEROES2W.EXE, at least in my install. It appears you are trying to use Wine to run the DOS version of Heroes 2. That will definitely have a very different digest, and will require DOSBox to run properly. As far as I know, anyone who bought Heroes 2 through GOG has access to both the DOS and Windows versions. Although GOG officially does not support the Windows version, I expect you will find it to be a better integrated experience than the DOS version. My experience has been that game patches are available for separate download through the browser. If there are any Galaxy-exclusive patches, I will be quite annoyed, as I too cannot use GOG Galaxy and so would be excluded from any patches that can only be downloaded through Galaxy.

I've got it working now. The final commands needed to be in an [autoexec] section of the .conf file, and after putting that line in, it works. I'm marking your comment as the solution, linuxvangog.

As far as the downloader goes, advowson, the only links I've been able to find for patches or goodies use GOG Galaxy, which Just Doesn't Work under Linux. As I don't have access to a Windows box, how can I get them?

For users of Debian-based distributions (like Ubuntu or Linux Mint), there is a fully automated installation method thanks to ./play.it
https://www.gog.com/forum/heroes_of_might_and_magic_series/enfrlinux_install_the_homm_games_on_debianubuntumintetc

Use your browser in Linux and go there: https://www.gog.com/account. Any patches are beneath the installer and goodies are to the right.

There are no patches listed there, but if you go to the GOG Downloader link, you see the patches.